The department has nearly 5,200 kits dating as far back as 1987 that are untested.

By Craig Kapitan :
November 16, 2009

Related Stories

The San Antonio Police Department announced Monday it will begin sifting through nearly 150 of about 5,200 rape kits that were never tested over the past two decades, reversing a long-held policy not to analyze kits if the assailant was unknown and the victim didn't want to pursue prosecution.

Police Chief William McManus acknowledged that DNA information from such cases could still be important. Results from the tests will be sent to the Combined DNA Index System, a national database used by law enforcement agencies.

"We don't want to let any case where somebody was sexually assaulted fall through the cracks," McManus said. "We want to raise the potential that person is going to get caught by pulling them into a database."

Authorities said most of the 5,191 untested rape kits, which the Police Department keeps in storage, involve incidents in which the suspect is known as a result of a confession or the case involves incidents in which the victim recanted the rape allegation.

District Attorney Susan Reed said she believes the number of untested rape kits that will eventually be analyzed as a result of the new policy is less than 200.

"If we had 5,000 unknown rapists walking the streets, that would floor you, but I don't think that's the case," Reed said.

The change in policy came in the wake of a story by CBS News reviewing untested kits from police departments across the nation.

Many police stations told the television network that they didn't have specific numbers. Of those who did respond, San Antonio's collection of untested rape kits appeared to be among the highest. The Houston Police Department - which also had one of the highest numbers - reported nearly 4,000 untested kits.

Reed said she was surprised that there were any rape kits involving unknown suspects that hadn't yet been tested. Even if a person is reluctant to cooperate, making a conviction difficult, the information would be important for collecting patterns, she said.

"I would hate to see a serial (rapist) in there," she said.

In all, there are almost 11,000 rape kits dating as far back as 1987 in storage in San Antonio, but 5,779 of them have been tested. Of the 5,191 that weren't tested, McManus said the majority involve suspects who have already been identified - making a DNA match a moot issue.

It will cost the police department $450 per analysis, but each rape kit could require multiple tests, officials said.

Sandy Gutierrez, a Police Department spokeswoman, said the testing process will begin soon, but the department does not know or have an estimate as to how long it will take to complete.

Lynn Blanco, president of the Rape Crisis Center, said Monday that she was unaware that the Police Department wasn't testing all cases involving unknown assailants.

"I really appreciate the chief moving forward ...," she said of the new policy. "Oftentimes, victims are really in no place to make decisions (about prosecution) following such a violent incident."

Some are fearful of their attacker, others ashamed or afraid of not being believed, she said.